STEVEDORE  , a

person who is engaged in the stowage of cargo on board a ship, one who loads and unloads vessels in port . The word is an adaptation of the Spanish eslivador, literally a packer, rstinar, to press or pack closely, Latin slipare, to press . The Spanish word was particularly applied to the packers of wool, when Spain was a great wool-exporting country, and thus came into general mercantile use .